Category Archives: Harper McClain Series

March 11, 2020 · 11:58 pm

Review: Revolver Road by Christi Daugherty

Title: Revolver Road by Christi Daugherty
Harper McClain Series Book Three
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 304 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

Crime reporter Harper McClain is back on the beat when a troubled musician vanishes in Christi Daugherty’s Revolver Road.

Even in the chill of February, no place touches Harper McClain’s heart like Savannah. She should be walking beneath the historic city’s towering oaks, surrounded by graceful mansions. Instead, she’s hiding miles away on Tybee Island after a mysterious voice on the phone warned her that someone wanted her dead. The call was too specific to ignore. The caller knew everything about her. But that was months ago, and she’s getting tired of being scared.

Her only escape is her work at the newspaper, where the hottest story in town is the disappearance of Xavier Rayne. The singer had a hit album on his hands, and was about to go on tour, but then he walked out of his beachfront home and vanished. The police believe he drowned, but Harper suspects his disappearance may be more ominous than that. Something doesn’t feel right about it.

His bandmates and actress girlfriend say he’s run away before. They expect him to come home. Until a body washes up with two bullet holes in it. Now everyone in Rayne’s life is a suspect. As Harper digs deeper into the case, though, the threats against her own life return. The phone call she received was very real. A killer from her past is coming for her.

Now she must solve two murders, or end up dying on Revolver Road…

Review:

Revolver Road by Christi Daugherty is a multi-layered mystery. This third installment in the Harper McClain series can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend reading the first two books for important backstory.

Reporter Harper McClain is temporarily living on Tybee Island when she becomes involved with a missing person’s case. Harper cannot help but wonder if the gunshot reports from the night before might have something to do with musician Xavier Rayne disappearance. Hoping to score a huge scoop, she spends time with Xavier’s actress girlfriend Cara Brand and bandmates Hunter Carlson and Allegra Hanson. She genuinely likes the three friends and her first story is well received by them. But as the search for Xavier continues, Savannah detectives Julie Daltrey and Luke Walker suspect one of his friends is involved in his disappearance. And when the case takes a deadly turn, Harper begins to wonder if they might be right.

Harper is an intuitive reporter who has a good relationship with the local police.  Their rapport sometimes gives her bit of an edge but it is her hard work and tenacity that contribute to her successful career.  With Xavier’s story, Harper maintains her objectivity despite how much she likes Cara, Hunter and Allegra. But as time passes, she cannot help but wonder about the strange tension between the three friends. She senses something is definitely wrong, but did one of them murder Xavier?

In the midst of covering Xavier’s story, Harper learns disturbing news that she might be in serious danger. Still determined to solve her mother’s murder, Harper is stunned by new details that turn her investigation in a shocking direction.  With answers almost within in her reach, how much is Harper willing to risk in order to uncover the truth?

Revolver Road is a mesmerizing mystery that is suspenseful and engrossing. Harper is an incredibly gutsy reporter whose troubled past is about to collide with the present.  Although distracted by the peril she is facing, she is still determined to ferret out the truth about Xavier’s murder. With shocking twists, Christi Daugherty brings this complex mystery to an action-packed conclusion. Old and new fans of the Harper McClain series are sure to enjoy this latest installment in the series.

Comments Off on Review: Revolver Road by Christi Daugherty

Filed under Christi Daugherty, Contemporary, Harper McClain Series, Minotaur Books, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Revolver Road, Suspense

March 6, 2019 · 11:58 pm

Review: A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty

Title: A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Harper McClain Series Book Two
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 323 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

From Christi Daugherty, author of The Echo Killing, comes another pulse-pounding suspenseful thriller featuring crime reporter Harper McClain.

For a woman, being killed by someone who claims to love her is the most ordinary murder of all.

With its antebellum houses and ancient oak trees draped in a veil of Spanish moss, Savannah’s graceful downtown is famous around the world. When a woman is killed in the heart of that affluent district, the shock is felt throughout the city. But for crime reporter Harper McClain, this story is personal. The corpse has a familiar face.

Only twenty-four years old, Naomi Scott was just getting started. A law student, tending bar to make ends meet, she wanted to change the world. Instead, her life ended in the dead of night at the hands of an unseen gunman. There are no witnesses to the crime. The police have three suspects: Scott’s boyfriend, who has a criminal past he claims he’s put behind him, her boss, who stalked another young bartender two years ago, and the district attorney’s son, who Naomi dated until their relationship ended in acrimony. All three men claim to love her. Could one of them be her killer?

With the whole city demanding answers, Harper unravels a tangled story of obsession and jealousy. But the pressures on her go beyond the murder. The newspaper is facing more layoffs. Her boss fears both their jobs are on the line. And Harper begins to realize that someone is watching her every move. Someone familiar and very dangerous.

Someone who told her to run before it’s too late…

Review:

A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty is a riveting mystery with a strong woman lead. Although this second installment in the Harper McClain series can be read as a standalone, I highly recommend reading Echo Killing for important details about an ongoing story arc.

One year after solving a copy cat homicide, Harper McClain’s once strong relationship with the police is incredibly strained. With tension between them at an all time high, Harper is blindsided when her former love interest, Homicide Detective Luke Walker, is assigned to the murder of student and bartender Naomi Scott. He is paired with Detective Julie Daltrey who was at one time a valuable source for Harper. When Daltrey narrows the suspect list to Naomi’s boyfriend Wilson Shepherd, bar owner Fitz and ex-boyfriend Peyton Anderson, Naomi’s father Jerrod Scott, goes to Harper for help. He is certain that Wilson is innocent and he is hoping Harper can find the information that will prove someone else killed his daughter. Harper tries to keep an open mind but she has her own suspicions about who murdered Naomi. Will Harper find the evidence she needs to convince Daltrey that Wilson is innocent?

With her own mother’s murder still unsolved, Harper wants to help find Naomi’s killer. She tries to keep an open mind about Detective Daltrey’s reasons for considering Wilson the prime suspect. Statistically, most women are murdered by someone they know and husbands/boyfriends are most often where investigations begin.  However, Harper’s instincts are telling her that Wilson is innocent and she is equally certain Fitz has no reason to kill Naomi. That leaves Peyton as her strongest contender but Daltrey insists he has an ironclad alibi. The more information she learns about Peyton, the more certain she is of his guilt. But his family connection to both the police and the newspaper makes it difficult to convince the detective to give him a second look. With or without police assistance, Harper continues to search for the evidence she needs to prove Peyton’s guilt.

In addition to the investigation in Naomi’s murder, Harper is dealing with serious problems in her personal and professional lives. The newspaper has undergone a series of layoffs over the years and there are rumors swirling that more are on the way.  In her personal life, Harper is trying to ignore her lingering feelings for Luke whom she has not seen nor talked to during the past year. She is confused by the conflicted signals she is getting from him and Harper is not sure she wants to risk getting hurt by him again. Harper is also incredibly unnerved by the feeling that someone has been in her apartment and that she is being followed. Do these disturbing events have anything to do with the still unsolved break in at her apartment a year ago? If so, what does this person want from her?

A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty is a well-written mystery with a compelling storyline and engaging characters. Harper is a likable protagonist whose concern for the families of murder victims is admirable. She has become a little more cautious over the past year but she is not easily intimidated nor does she give up when obstacles are thrown in her path. The storyline with Luke is a bit heartbreaking and will leave readers wondering what the future might hold for them.  Harper’s tenacity to identify Naomi’s killer pays off in the end and Christi Daugherty brings the novel to an action-filled and somewhat poignant conclusion. An enigmatic stranger brings news to Harper that will leave fans of the Harper McClain series impatiently awaiting the next release.

Comments Off on Review: A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty

Filed under A Beautiful Corpse, Christi Daugherty, Contemporary, Harper McClain Series, Mystery, Rated B+, Review

March 11, 2018 · 11:57 pm

Review: The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty

Title: The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty
Harper McClain Series Book One
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 356 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

When a murder echoing a fifteen-year-old cold case rocks the Southern town of Savannah, crime reporter Harper McClain risks everything to find the identity of this calculated killer in Christi Daugherty’s new novel The Echo Killing.

A city of antebellum architecture, picturesque parks, and cobblestone streets, Savannah moves at a graceful pace. But for Harper McClain, the timeless beauty and culture that distinguishes her home’s Southern heritage vanishes during the dark and dangerous nights. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Not even finding her mother brutally murdered in their home when she was twelve has made her love Savannah any less.

Her mother’s killer was never found, and that unsolved murder left Harper with an obsession that drove her to become one of the best crime reporters in the state of Georgia. She spends her nights with the police, searching for criminals. Her latest investigation takes her to the scene of a homicide where the details are hauntingly familiar: a young girl being led from the scene by a detective, a female victim naked and stabbed multiple times in the kitchen, and no traces of any evidence pointing towards a suspect.

Harper has seen all of this before in her own life. The similarities between the murder of Marie Whitney and her own mother’s death lead her to believe they’re both victims of the same killer. At last, she has the chance to find the murderer who’s eluded justice for fifteen years and make sure another little girl isn’t forever haunted by a senseless act of violence—even if it puts Harper in the killer’s cross-hairs…

Review:

In The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty, crime reporter Harper McClain is driven to solve a murder that is eerily similar to the still unsolved slaying of her own mother.

Fifteen years earlier, twelve year old Harper arrived home to a discover her mother has been brutally murdered.  Fast forward to the current murder of Marie Whitney where Harper catches sight of the victim’s twelve year old daughter Camille being escorted from the scene.  This immediately strikes chord with Harper and she knows she HAS to see the murder scene. She is stunned to discover it looks so much like her mother’s that she is immediately convinced that the two cases are connected. Despite pleas from her friend, photographer Miles Jackson, her love interest, undercover cop Luke Walker and father figure and head of homicide Lt. Robert Smith, Harper refuses to stop investigating both cases.

Harper never recovered from the tragic death of her mother.  After her relationship with her father is irrevocably fractured, she becomes quite close to Lt. Smith and his family. Although she spent a lot of time at the police station in the years after losing her mom, she had no interest in becoming a cop. An internship at the local newspaper sets her on the course to become a reporter and her connections with the police make her a natural fit for becoming a crime reporter. Working the evening shift, Harper is a workaholic who does not date or have many friends outside of her childhood pal Bonnie Larson who remains her best friend.

Harper quickly becomes obsessed with Marie’s murder after her quick glimpse of the crime scene. When she learns there is absolutely no forensic evidence for the police to investigate, she becomes convinced the perpetrator is a cop. The lack of evidence is also another similarity to her mother’s still unsolved murder so Harper becomes focused on trying to find an officer who is connected to both cases. Despite warnings from the detectives working the case, Miles, Luke and her boss, Harper is willing to risk her career, friendships, her fledgling relationship with Luke and ultimately, her life in her zealous attempt to unmask the killer.

The Echo Killing is initially a bit slow paced but it quickly hits its stride and becomes an engrossing mystery that is impossible to put down. Harper is a likable protagonist but she is reckless and so blinded by obsession that will do anything in her quest to prove her theory that both murders are connected.  Although savvy readers will most likely guess the perpetrator’s identity well before Harper stumbles onto the truth, this does not lessen the overall enjoyment of the unfolding story. Christi Daugherty brings the novel to an exciting conclusion but a couple of loose ends leave the door open for a sequel.

1 Comment

Filed under Christi Daugherty, Contemporary, Harper McClain Series, Minotaur Books, Rated B+, Review, Spotlight, Suspense, The Echo Killing